State Briefs: 10/28/07

Thursday

Dec 27, 2007 at 12:01 AMDec 27, 2007 at 7:03 PM

Jail van crashes

ROCKFORD — Slick roads caused a Winnebago County Jail van to strike another vehicle this morning, sending a prisoner to a hospital as a precautionary measure, Winnebago County sheriff’s officials said.

The accident happened about 4 a.m., on Owen Center Road just south of Latham Road. A corrections officer, heading north, lost control of the jail van on the slick road and struck a southbound vehicle, officials said.

The officer was uninjured, and the driver of the southbound vehicle suffered only minor cuts to his hands.

The accident remains under investigation by the Winnebago County Sheriff’s Department.

Bike carried teen on spree

PEORIA - A 15-year-old boy wanting more than what he may have asked Santa for was caught on tape riding a bicycle and eating snacks while burglarizing a sporting goods retail store Christmas Eve night.

Store surveillance cameras at Dick's Sporting Goods caught the teen sporting a new pair of sneakers, casually eating and drinking, but only after he'd already broken into three other stores at The Shoppes at Grand Prairie, police said Wednesday.

The youth, whose name was being withheld because of his age, was taken into custody at the sports store, the last he hit during his crime spree that started about 11:30 p.m., after an intrusion alarm alerted police.

Officers also found the TinderBox, Vino 100 and The Digital Store also burglarized.

At Dick's, the boy gained entry after throwing a rock through a side window, said police who gave play-by-play of the teen burglar's moves: He casually walked to the golf and footwear departments eating Chex Mix and drinking a soda.

There, he disappears into the back room of the shoe department, apparently exchanging his wet tennis shoes for a brand new pair.

He then reappears on camera a short time later riding a bicycle, which he rides to the hunting department. The youth kicks open a locked glass case holding knives and grabs a hunting knife, which he then uses in unsuccessful attempts to saw through a cable securing several shotguns.

That's when police enter the store and catch the boy, who again is riding the bike, although this time as he tries to exit the business.

The youth was detained Wednesday at the county's Juvenile Detention Center on four charges each of business burglary and criminal damage to property. He also faces charges of obstructing police and trespass to land.

Woman dies two days after fire killed husband

Peoria - A house fire on Christmas Eve has claimed the life of an elderly Bartonville couple, officials said Wednesday night.

Laverne "George" and Shirley Byard, both 87, died about two days apart after their home at 107 Fairoaks Court caught fire on Monday.

George Byard likely died from smoke inhalation, according to preliminary results of autopsy conducted on Wednesday, while his wife died about 9 p.m. Wednesday in the Intensive Care Unit at OSF Saint Francis Medical Center where she has been hospitalized in critical condition since firefighters rescued her from the home.

Peoria County Coroner Johnna Ingersoll said she is awaiting toxicology reports, which will indicate how much of a role smoke inhalation may have played in George Byard's death. Ingersoll said his body sustained some burns though they were minor enough to not have caused his death.

Shirley Byard, who reportedly alerted authorities about 3:30 p.m. Monday to the blaze inside their home, was pronounced dead at the hospital about 9:15 p.m. Wednesday. An autopsy is scheduled for today.

Bartonville Fire Chief Mike Cheatham said his department, along with the Bartonville Police Department and the Illinois State Fire Marshal's Office are still investigating the exact cause of the blaze.

Fire ravages storage facility

WYOMING — A Wyoming building that burned down in a huge, uncontrollable fire that also destroyed several vehicles and other items in rental storage on Christmas Eve sat on property that had been enrolled in an environmental cleanup program without any follow-up, state records show.

At least nine volunteer fire departments fought the blaze that was reported about 10 p.m. Monday and raged through about 5 a.m. Christmas morning in the East Williams Street building that once was an electronics manufacturing site but has been used for rental storage the past several years, Wyoming Fire Chief Ed Fogelsonger said.

The Illinois State Fire Marshal’s Office had been on the site Wednesday. But it appeared unlikely there would be any conclusion about the origins of the fire because of its intensity, Fogelsonger said.

“There’s some things that we’re looking at,” he said, “but everything was so destroyed that we’re not able to put a finger on anything.”

The current owner of the site is Rucker Meaker of rural Wyoming, who has been operating a storage business there under the name of JES Storage, according to Illinois Environmental Protection Agency records. He did not return a call.

The property, once owned by Breeze-Illinois and later by Trans-Technology Electronics of Peoria, had been signed up for the IEPA’s Site Remediation Program, according to information on the agency’s Web site.

Knox County won’t sell landfill

GALESBURG — Knox County won’t be selling its highly profitable landfill just yet.

The County Board voted Wednesday not to sell the landfill for now, but agreed to gather more information about the possibility.

“We don’t have enough material to make a decision,” said board member Lyle Johnson.

Board member Stephen Johnson said he heard from a landfill employee and constituents who, like him, had questions about why selling the landfill was even being considered.

“The vast majority was ‘Are you nuts?” Johnson said.

The County Board’s landfill committee had been reviewing options for the landfill in executive session since Director of Solid Waste Larry Larson, who is largely credited for making the operation profitable, announced he would retire at the end of November.

The committee considered replacing Larson, leasing the landfill or selling it, but decided at a Dec. 13 meeting to recommend the county sell the landfill and to put it on this month’s agenda.

When Larson took over the landfill it was about $4 million in debt. Now it has $13 million in the bank, a large portion of which was being saved to close the current landfill site when it reaches capacity and open another.

The landfill finished with $2.9 million in revenue over expenses for the 2007 fiscal year, which ended Nov. 30. The county as a whole finished 2007 with $2.7 million in revenue over expenses, which means the remainder of the county funds were $200,000 in the hole.

The most recent Landfill Capacity Report from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency indicates there were 51 landfills operating in Illinois. Knox County’s is one of the few that are still publicly owned.

Wind damages state fair grandstand

SPRINGFIELD -- Gusty weekend winds peeled back a 30-foot section of the metal Grandstand roof at the Illinois State Fairgrounds, and officials are seeking an estimate for repairs.

The damage apparently occurred Sunday night and was discovered Monday morning. Part of Grandstand Avenue in front of the structure was closed as a precaution, even though no debris had fallen onto the street, Chris McCloud, who fields questions for the Illinois Department of Agriculture, said Wednesday.

The damaged area of the roof is just northwest of the main Grandstand entrance. McCloud said workers are making sure none of the roofing is loose and that there is no danger to the public. He said the roofing is "just kind of peeled back and tangled up there."

The cost of the damage won't be known until repair estimates are received.
"Right now, because of the season, it's not like we're in danger of missing any events or anything like that, but it will be repaired in time for the upcoming event season," McCloud said.

The Springfield area experienced strong gusts Saturday and Sunday, some of them reaching upward of 60 mph, according to the National Weather Service in Lincoln.

Credit problems stall home ownership project

SPRINGFIELD -- A local organization dedicated to placing low- and middle-income families into homes of their own has started building a new set of houses, even though more than half the houses built in a previous project remain empty.

"We get a lot more interest when new homes go up. They see the neighborhood is improving and want to be a part of that," said Ron Fafoglia, executive director of the TSP-Hope Inc. program.

For the past five years, TSP-Hope has been renewing the Mather Wells neighborhood on Springfield's near east side, both by building new homes and extensively remodeling existing ones.

"We've put folks in 22 homes," Fafoglia said.
Interest in the homes, which offer subsidized mortgages thanks to a network of grants, is high.

But many of TSP-Hope's prospective clients first have to work themselves out of debt to qualify. Out-of-control credit problems are usually to blame.

In late November, TSP-Hope had a waiting list of about 75 clients, but most had such poor credit records that they were unable to clear up their credit histories fast enough to move into homes waiting for them.

Of the last five homes the organization has built, three remain empty - and waiting.
Fafoglia said the logjam is beginning to clear.

"Some will be ready (to buy a home) within a month, and some won't be ready for - well, quite frankly, some will never be ready," he said.

Second family left homeless

LINCOLN -- The second house fire in a week has left another Lincoln family homeless.
A mobile home in the 1300 block of North Postville Drive caught fire around 7 a.m. Thursday. The structure appears to be a total loss.

Vivian Skelton, 74, lived in the mobile home with her son and daughter, Jerry Skelton Sr. and Charlotte Pusey, and her grandson, Jerry Skelton Jr.
All were unhurt.

Reports indicated the fire restarted around 7 a.m. today after a previous fire call. Emergency vehicles were also at the location at around 5 p.m. Wednesday. Reports also indicated that a pet was inside when the home burned today.

The fire was big enough to send a plume of smoke billowing over nearby Woodlawn Road, a major commercial artery running through town. For a brief time, it appeared that flames licking upward from the roof might reach nearby trees. Firefighters manage to douse the fire before it could spread, but couldn't save the structure itself.

The Mike Gail family of six lost its home in Lincoln and everything in it Christmas Eve. They escaped with nothing more than the pajamas they were wearing, and only Mike Gail's wallet was salvaged from the ruins.

Dan Fulscher, director of the Logan County Emergency Management Agency, said the Red Cross was headed to town for a meeting Thursday morning to assist the Gail family when the Skelton family's home caught fire. As soon as Red Cross representatives finish meeting with the Gails, they'll begin work to find assistance for the Skeltons, Fulscher said.